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How to Write Internet Ad Copy

Writing effective Internet ad copy is part art and part science. In this column Managing Editor Eileen Shulock and I (Larry Chase) share our best proven ideas for creating copy that gets results.

Eileen gets her experience from running a fashion-forward online retail site while I share with you what has worked over the nearly 13 years of publishing this newsletter.

1. First the Offer, then the Copy:

There's no contest. Your offer is more important than the copy. The best copy in the world dies on the page if the offer itself is uninspired. First develop the basic proposition of the ad or content. The copy will follow.

2. Think In Keywords:

Before you write a word of copy, you want to see what keywords or buzzwords are on the minds of your audience. Use a keyword suggestion tool such as Wordtracker to see what words people are using in searches.

Are people looking for Internet marketing experts or Internet marketing consultants or Internet marketing gurus? Whether you're writing copy for SEO or PPC, email newsletter ads, blogs and so on, you want to know what people are responding to before you write your copy.

If people are searching for one keyword phrase over another, it's a good bet that your audience will respond more favorably to words they are more likely to search for themselves.

Look at the search tool on your site to see what keywords and phrases people use. You are looking closely at this metric, hmmmm? Using those same words will help enhance the dialog you wish to start or continue with your audience.

3. Define Your Goal:

Prior to composing copy, make sure your goal for your ad is very clear in your own mind. Too often marketers try to sell everything at once in an ad, rather than focusing the ad on one clearly defined selling premise. Your ad is one in a series of steps that lead to a conversion of some sort.

If you want people to download your whitepaper, focus on the benefits of downloading, not on the sale you hope will occur later. If you are selling products, you most likely want someone to go to a product page to learn more, not to purchase the product directly from your ad.

That's because in most cases an online ad does not offer enough space to educate your audience completely about your product or service. Focus instead on getting the click you need.

4. Indicate a Specific Call to Action:

Remember to tell your reader exactly what to do next. If you want someone to learn more about your product, tell them in specific words to do so. Don't assume that he or she is going to do what you want; your call to action is one of the most vital sentences in your advertisement.

5. Do the Direct Mail Two-Step:

In B2B and considered purchase consumer goods, people often don't buy the first time they go out to gather research. You have to weigh the upside and downside of asking for the sale too soon vs. not being direct enough to close the deal right away (assuming the target is ready to buy).

In the case of those who aren't ready to buy, you want to design copy to bring them to some action, even if it isn't an immediate deal closer. Get them to subscribe to an email newsletter, or RSS feed, or download a whitepaper.

Just be sure that you pay attention to the A leads and the B leads right away to nurture the relationship along. The C leads will probably need a "warming tank" in which they are brought along patiently until they are in the final stages of buying.

Probably the biggest sin of marketers is to ignore the hard-won leads. Don't let this happen to you.

6. Write To a Person:

Personify your audience. They are people, not demographics or psychographics. If you have more than one audience within your audience (and you probably do) then actually assign a name to a representative person within that group. And then focus on that person.

Also put your reader first. Use "you" words, not "we" words. No one likes to be talked at.

7. Tell a Story:

Give your reader some context in which to evaluate your offer. If you're presenting a whitepaper for download, let him know it was written by experts based upon experience with hundreds of clients. If you are selling knives and forks, let her know they were handcrafted by monks in Sicily.

This tactic both enriches your product or service and intrigues the reader.

8. Appeal to Emotions:

No matter what you're selling, there's an emotion to be tapped into that will tug at the heart of your reader. Notice how car companies emphasize the sexiness of the car or its earth-friendly impact. Look at how tire companies emphasize the safety of their products.

What's your emotion? In B2B, it could be looking smart in front of your boss or getting a promotion. In the B2C space the possibilities are endless. In this editor's line of work, the most frequent emotional need to is own the hippest wardrobe around.

9. Keep It Short and Do Use Bold:

• Too much copy is overwhelming.
• Bulleted points are easy to skim and understand.
• Bold copy draws the eye to your key points.

10. Avoid "Ad" Words:

Many people try to mimic ad copy by using familiar-sounding slogans like "new and improved" or "revolutionary". The result is tired old copy that sounds hackneyed and lifeless.

If you want to freshen up your copy, write how your target audience talks. I often help clients rewrite copy by saying to them, "Just tell me what you're trying to say". Nine times out of ten, what comes out of their mouths in a conversation format is much better than the original copy.

11. Give Yourself a Long Lead Time:

Too many marketers wait until the last minute and then dash off a few words for their ad. This is a disservice all around.

You can't expect an ad that you spent five minutes writing to present your product or service in the most compelling way. If you are not creating compelling copy, you are not going to get as many people as possible to respond to your ad.

And if your ad does not draw as many clicks as it possibly could, you are not using your marketing dollars wisely.

If your ad copy is running multiple times, find out which version gets the highest response rate and call that your "control". The trick here is to always try to beat your control. You may never beat it, but you should always try.

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